Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1887-12-30

10 guy UnlS par IOr me. 1ney were eN-
cellent horses for that day, but nothing
to compare to what we have now. After
that followed the purchase of Lantern
and mate, Peerless, Lady Palmer, Flat
bush Maid, Pocahontas, Dexter, Edward
Everett, Startle, Joe Elliott, Grafton and
others. | first began the acquisition of
fine horses in the manner referred to.
and have pursued it from my love for the
horse"
Twenty-three years ago the country
was startled by the announcement that
Mr.. Bonner had paid $4,000 for the mare
Pocahontas, which had record of 2.26a.
Bonner did not actually pay that amount
in cash for her. What he did pay was
$50, 900 in cash, and he also gave mare
for which he had been offered $4,000, so
it went the rounds of the newspapers
that he had paid $4,000 for her. But
S35, 900 was a much larger sum than had
ever been paid for horse before, and so
the people of the country had good
grounds for establishment.
Three years later people were again
astonished by his paying $4,000 for
Dexter, who had just made turfmen open
their eyes by trotting his mile in 2.174
and breaking the record, which was then
2.lS. But in 1879 when Rarus broke the
PA record by making 2.134 it only full
filled the general expectation when the
announcement speedily followed that Mr..
Bonner had purchased him for $4,000.
By that time the general public had come
to look on it as natural sequence that if
a horse broke the record it would be pur-
chased by Robert Bonner.
And the public was justified in this
when in 1884 Maud S., having reduced
the record from 2.10 to 2.09a, the an
nouncement was made that Mr.. Bonner
had bought her from the late William II.
Vanderbilt. But while the public was
not astonished at the purchase, it was at
the price. Mr.. Bonner paid $4,000 in
cash for the peerless mare, and though
that was by several thousands larger
than any price paid before, it seemed
surprisingly small to the public, for it
was well known that Mr.. Vanderbilt had
been offered only short time before
100000 for her. 1t turned out that Mr..
Vanderbilt had offered the mare to Mr.
Bonner for that price, and he gave as his
reasons at the time he made the offer that
he was very much annoyed by the re-
peated challenges and efforts to get him
to race hel in matches with Jay-Eye-See
and otherwise, and had therefore deter
mined to get rid of her. He preferred to
sell her to Mr.. Bonner for $4,000 rather
than to any other person for 100000,
because he could feel sure that in his
hands she would never be allowed to trot
for stake or prize.
Thus Mr.. Bonner has purchased in
succession the three greatest record
breakers and retired them from the turf.
There was so much prejudice against
the owning and driving of fast horses
when Mr.. Bonner first took to the road
that many men were afraid to let it be
known downtown that they owned fast
horses lest it would injure their credit.
1t was not this prejudice, however, but
his natural antipathy to betting that led
him to resolve never to allow one of his
horses to trot for money, and though he
has since owned faster horses and more
of them than any man in the country, he
hoc inf nto;n Inf;
to this day. He is not averse, however,
to trying the speed of his horses against
their records for the advancement of
turf interests, provided no bets are in
volved. Thus he gave Maud S. public
trial at Lexington, Ky, on November II
of the same year in which he purchased
her, and she beat her record by making a
mile in , :09t. In the following July he
also sent her to Cleveland to make an
other public trial, in which she again
surpassed herself by making a mile in
2:0Sa.
Mr.. Bonner knows. probably, better
than any other man in America how to
take care of horse. lie never does any
thing by halves, and simultaneously with
taking to driving horses he took to study
ing them. Now he is considered the best
informed man on the subject in this city,
His knowledge is not confined to the
keeping of horses, but extends to the
treatment of the diseases to which
they are subject; and when the vet
Urinary surgeons are puzzled it is a
common thing for owners to consult Mr..
Bonner. But that is not all. His dag
nosis is usually found correct.
Sixteen years ago Mr.. Bonner built the
finest and costliest private stable in this
city. One or two have been built since
that cost more money, but they are in no
respect superior, while in some respects
they are decidedly inferior to his. His